Last week, more than 400 Open Data Science community members descended on the city of Austin to attend our inaugural AnacondaCON event. From data scientists to engineers to business analysts, community members shared best practices, fostered new connections and worked to accelerate both their personal and organization’s path to Open Data Science. One thing is absolute—by the end of the three days, everyone felt the unmistakable buzz and excitement around a growing market on the edge of transforming the world.

In case you weren’t able to join us (or are just looking to relive the fun), below are some highlights from AnacondaCON 2017:

Peter Wang, our CTO and co-founder, kicked off the event with a keynote about the ongoing need for better access to data, a theme that was echoed throughout a number of breakout sessions over the two days.

Sessions varied between business and technology tracks, enabling everyone to find a topic that resonated with them. Industry leaders from organizations such as Forrester, Capital One, General Electric, Clover Health, Bloomberg and many others shared personal insights on working with Open Data Science. These speakers also discussed areas in which they hoped would be given attention by the community.

We encouraged everyone to bring their data science teams, and many did—including our newest #AnacondaCREW members from Legoland! The theme of teamwork and collaboration permeated throughout the event. Since data science is a team sport—and we don’t want anyone working alone—we gave everyone their very own team…a team of Anaconda Legos to take home!

After an insightful and inspiring first day, we ended the night with some southern hospitality. We changed gears, spending time getting to know each other and having some fun! With a spread of classic Texan BBQ, a mariachi band and Anaconda-themed airbrush tattoos,I think it’s safe to say no one got a lot of sleep that night.

Day two was just as successful—between sessions, attendees engaged in lively discussions about different ways to capitalize on data science to drive new outcomes and impact organizations in new ways. The Artificial Intelligence panel and City of Boston presentation on data science in the public sector also helped spark exciting conversation among attendees.

Travis Oliphant, chief data scientist and co-founder of Continuum Analytics, closed out the conference by sharing a look at the tremendous growth of the Anaconda community and his thoughts on how the community can continue to grow and thrive, pushing the Open Data Science movement forward.

On behalf of our entire team, we want to thank everyone who attended and helped make this year’s event such a success. Below are a few of your own highlights from the event. Hope to see you again in 2018.